Want to make an impact beyond the actual jobs to be done? Here are 3 lessons to add lasting value to your team, clients, and deliverables.
It started as a simple school assignment.
To many, the request from Jesse Gutierrez, head of the scanning department at Original Survey Solutions, to use company resources for his fourth-grade son’s mission modeling project could have seemed insignificant or been easily denied.
However, owner Will Paul saw it as an opportunity to model empathy in surveying for his internal team and their clients.
“I feel like we have to look for opportunities to show people that we care, which is a little bit different, right?” he says.
Will, who founded the Modesto, Calif.-based firm in 2023, admits not a lot of people talk about empathy in surveying, but he thinks it should be an integral part of the culture, from how you treat employees to how you shape project deliverables.
“I think it’s really important to understand what your clients are trying to do and then to help them the best way possible,” Will says.
When embraced in surveying, empathy-driven leadership can foster an environment where employees feel valued, clients feel understood, and deliverables resonate with purpose.
In a recent Tech Insider interview, Will shared how he approaches empathy in surveying at Original Survey Solutions and how other firms can also transform their company culture, client relationships, and project outcomes.
Lesson 1: Show How You Value Employees
When Jesse asked if he could take his son Luke laser scanning for the day, Will didn’t hesitate. Luke needed to build a scale model of Mission Soledad for a class assignment, and Jesse suggested using the firm’s technology to document the historic site.
Will immediately recognized the opportunity to support an employee and his son and to take it a step further.
“I saw that there were a couple of good things that could come from it,” Will says. “One, Jesse would get to work with Luke and get to go do this cool project together, and two, I think that the best consultants are always trying to help people and be a good member of the community.”
The Original Survey Solutions team reached out to the California Missions Foundation. They were thrilled by the idea of using laser scanning to capture the more than 200-year-old site, which did not have much documentation and had been destroyed three separate times. Now, its significance could be accurately preserved for future generations.
“Honestly, the most important resource of our firm really is in our people. We want the staff to know that we’ll put our resources behind helping them with things like this.”
—William Paul, PLS, President and Founder, Original Survey Solutions
The project was scheduled during company time with the firm’s Leica RTC360 high-speed laser scanner, and Jesse and his son spent 14 hours scanning the site. It was a long, yet unforgettable, day for a boy learning alongside his father.
“We’ve done some phenomenal projects, just like once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, at OSS,” Jesse says. “But I think this one stands out the most just because of the fact that I got to do it with my son.”
Pro Tip: As a surveying firm leader, ask yourself: How can I help create an environment where I’d want to work? How can I find ways to invest in my team that go beyond pay and benefits? How can I show I care for them as people?
Finding ways to show employees that you truly value them and the things they care about is all part of the culture that Will has worked hard to establish with his team.
“There’s a cynical part as a business owner that’s always looking at the bottom line, but honestly, the most important resource of our firm really is in our people,” Will says. “We want the staff to know that we’ll put our resources behind helping them with things like this.”
Lesson 2: Strengthen Client Relationships by Anticipating Needs
Empathy isn’t just for internal culture — it should also be foundational to your firm’s client relationships.
For example, at the start of the Mission Soledad project, the California Missions Foundation didn’t even really know what laser scanning was. Will says empathy in surveying often requires getting out of your own world to try to view goals from the client’s perspective.
“We always recommend standing in the shoes of your client,” Will says. “What would I want to see if I were trying to preserve this mission?”
The team thought about what would be critical to visualize if there were any future damage to the buildings — such as from natural disasters like earthquakes — what would aid in historical preservation and education, and how deliverables could complement the mission’s fundraising efforts.
“People don’t wake up and say, ‘I’m excited I get to go hire a surveyor today!’ They’re looking for you to solve their problem.”
—William Paul, PLS, President and Founder, Original Survey Solutions
This evaluation resulted in more than measurements on 2D plans and files full of data. The Original Survey Solutions team produced detailed 3D models, realistic flyovers, and animated cross-sections that could benefit the mission for years to come. The team is also exploring the use of Reality Cloud Studio, powered by HxDR, as a cloud-based visualization tool.
It may seem harsh, but Will says it’s important to remember that a surveyor’s work is mainly a means to an end for the client.
Pro Tip: Think about the person who ultimately has to work with your data. How can you make your data even more informative?
“People don’t wake up and go, ‘I’m excited I get to go hire a surveyor today!’” he says. “They’re looking for you to solve their problem.”
Empathy in surveying allows you to look through that lens and identify what the client is truly seeking, often before they even do. That will keep your clients not only satisfied with your current work, but also coming back to you when future needs arise.
Lesson 3: Create Deliverables with the End User in Mind
Empathy should extend to your surveying firm’s deliverables as well, elevating them from solely functional to powerfully impactful.
With the Mission Soledad project, the Original Survey Solutions team recognized that their scans could enable more than just the dimensions for a fourth-grader’s scale model. As a site with tremendous historical significance to the settling of California, they wanted to share useful information about the mission in a way that anyone could digest.
“The ultimate goal is to be able to get this point cloud into the world’s hands,” Jesse says. “If anyone ever wanted to take a walk through Mission Soledad — or if anyone ever wanted to take their own stab at recreating what the original mission looked like — having those scans, measurements, images, all of it readily available online, that’s going to help them tremendously.”
Pro Tip: Evaluate what your data means and how you can best represent it in ways that make your deliverables accessible beyond the scope of your project.
Will says empathy in surveying means thinking beyond the actual data to the overall story it’s trying to tell — and then presenting that big picture in what you deliver to your client.
“The scan isn’t the solution — very rarely does someone just want a laser scan because they want a laser scan,” he says. “They’re trying to do something. How do we help them do it?”
